Finding Home
by Wolvertique
Summary: A lost male bird finds a home with the X-men. Cockatiel fans should especially enjoy this!
1. Beau Arrives

Author's Note: I have been a cockatiel owner since 1994, when I asked my mother for one for my college graduation present. She asked me why I wanted one and I told her that I wanted something to love. This story is based in that love for these wonderful animals, and in part on how my mother's male cockatiel, Sunny, found us. (He showed up in my grandmother's back yard, shrieking at her and demanding she take him in. We, of course, did so.) Italics are what the male 'tiel in this story is thinking/doing from his perspective.

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He rested at last. He had been traveling forever, searching for his flock, and now he was fatigued and hungry. There was no food where he was and the last time he had found food, he had been attacked by scary black birds who were better fighters than he. He had to find some people. They had food. They could protect him from the others.

Nightcrawler slipped through the woods quietly. It was his turn to hunt down Logan, but he had lost the other man's trail, so now he hoped to pick it up before Wolverine hunted him down in turn.

__

A person! He was not used to seeing people in the trees, but he didn't question it. With a shriek of joy, he flung himself toward the person. Hunger would be satisfied. He would no longer be alone and in danger!

Nightcrawler looked up. A bird was screaming in the trees nearby. He cautiously slinked around a few more and saw a large gray bird with a yellow face flapping its gray and white wings and making demanding cries while Wolverine frantically tried to hush it.

__

The person did not notice him. He would have to be more noticeable. He increased the pitch of his calls and started moving violently, so the person could see him. He flapped his wings furiously and attacked the tree branch he was standing on.

"I believe I win, mein freund," he said, trying not to laugh as Logan turned and glared at the bird.

"It's not fair. You had help." The bird leapt onto his leg and Kurt lost the battle with his laughter. Logan looked at the animal and frowned. "What the hell do you want? You already lost me my hunt."

__

The person noticed him! Great! He was going to be fed. He waited, but no food appeared. He started nibbling the stuff he was standing on to show the stupid person what he needed. That usually got him food.

Logan growled as the bird started attacking his leg, nibbling and biting. "My calf ain't a toy, bird."

"Maybe it is, to him." Kurt held out a hand. "Come down and bring him with you. Maybe we can find him a home."

"As long as it isn't in my room, I'm fine with that." The bird hopped onto his hand eagerly and he put the bird on his shoulder, then made his way down the tree carefully.

__

This human was well-trained. It knew to offer the stick-thing so he could ride on it. Maybe this human would be his new flock.

"He seems friendly." Kurt approached the bird as it rode on Logan's shoulder. Its yellow crest feathers, long and slender, rose tall as he came closer and its gray feathers pulled in close to its body. It made a small, low hiss as he extended his index finger to touch its wing.

__

This one might be a human, but it was like no other human he had ever seen. Its feathers were all wrong and all over its body, its eyes were strange, and its stick-things were huge and scary. He warned it off aggressively, hissing and biting at the scary-human.

Logan laughed. "Guess he don't like you, elf." The bird fluffed out again as Kurt took a few steps back. Its bright black eyes followed the man as he began walking with Logan again.

"He just doesn't know me yet." Kurt tried not to feel hurt by the animal's rejection, but it did sting a little.

__

He was calm now. He was with flock. He had been so lonely! He started talking to the new flock, explaining how happy he was and how much he wanted to be with flock, and telling this flock not to get lost. His previous flock had gotten lost, so he worried about this one. It might get lost too.

"Hey. A little less noise there." Logan's admonition was ignored by the bird, which was whistling and chirping enthusiastically into his ear. The bird gave a loud, perfect, enthusiastic wolf-whistle as they approached the back door, drawing curious looks and stern glances from Storm's gardening class.

Bobby Drake was seated on the stairs as they entered. He stared at the animal. "Hey, Logan, you got a growth on your shoulder there." Kurt shut the door hard and the bird squeaked, then flew up as high as it could and perched near the ceiling, clinging to the woodwork with both gray feet.

__

Scary noise. Scary noises mean get up high as possible, after warning flock. He then watched as the things below him talked to him. He liked being talked to. He listened curiously as their voices got louder, then one of the things left.

"I could have gone, you know." Kurt sat on the landing and sighed.

"You woulda scared him off. If he got that scared by the door, just think how intimidating your teleporting is." Logan scratched his head, looking toward the bird, which was contentedly nibbling its feathers.

"I hope Kitty can get him soon, before he decides to go somewhere else."

__

He felt good. He would be better with food, though. He decided to remind the flock to feed him.

The bird started ferociously chewing on the wood carving it was standing on as Kitty ran through the wall and into the room. "Wow. He's pretty." She walked through the air over to the bird, which watched her warily.

__

He did not trust new things, normally, so he kept his eye on this one. It was small and made soothing sounds at him. He decided to greet it politely, as if it were flock.

The bird pulled back its head, then extended it and let out a long, slow wolf-whistle. Kitty laughed. "Hi, cutie!"

__

He got attention. He liked getting attention. He decided to greet the human again.

The bird held up one foot and wolf-whistled once more, stretching his neck out and holding his wings out from his body. "Come here, you," Kitty giggled as she held a finger out to the bird. He stepped delicately onto her finger. "I know whose birdie you are. You're Remy's, aren't you, making up to women like this?"

The bird began singing enthusiastically, mixing bird calls with wolf-whistles in an odd blend of sound as Kitty took him back down to the ground, talking to him quietly and saying what a good bird he was.

"So, what kind of bird is this?" Logan watched as the bird leaped to Kitty's shoulder and started grabbing at the back of her right ear, trying to reach the back of her earring.

"He's a cockatiel. Stop that!" The cockatiel flinched away from her harsh words and made a distressed noise, then tried to get at the earring back again.

"Need some help with the sweet little birdie?" Bobby had been highly amused by the entire affair and still had a big grin on his face.

"Oh, blow it out your ear, Bobby." Kitty took the bird onto her hand with some difficulty. He had something in his beak he was crunching. "My earring, give it back." She held out her hand under the cockatiel's beak.

__

He was not going to give up the neat toy he had found. He turned away from the stick things that were trying to steal his plaything and kept chewing on it. It felt good in his beak. He ran his tongue over it as he chewed on it.

Kitty forced the bird's beak open and took her earring back out of his mouth, earning a hiss and a threatening near-bite. She plopped him on Kurt's shoulder. "Here, fuzzy. Keep him for us till we come back with a cage and food for him."   
  
_He was uncertain of this strange human now. It was with the other humans and had not been too scary, but he was still a little nervous. He decided to watch it closely._   
  
The bird got thin and watched him warily as he walked along the hall to the kitchen, but it didn't fly away or try to bite him. He smiled. The animal probably did not truly hate him.   
  
He got out a bowl and a spoon, then searched the freezer. The only ice cream left was some old, disgusting Rocky Road and an unopened container of vanilla. He took out the vanilla and started scooping it into the bowl.   
  
_Food! The human had the sweet food he loved so much with his Other flock! He started down the human's arm toward the food._   
  
"Bird!" Kurt put the animal back on his shoulder again. He kept crawling down Kurt's sleeve, making it impossible to serve out the ice cream.   
  
_Maybe he needed to persuade the human that he really was flock. He started off by giving the flock call. That usually got him what he wanted._   
  
The bird raised one foot, cocked a bright brown eye, and wolf-whistled into his face. Kurt grinned. "Kitty's right. You are like Remy." He sat down at the table with his bowl and spoon, lifting a bite of ice cream to his mouth.   
  
_Oh boy. The human was bringing him the food. He ran around and started nibbling it straight from the thing it was on. Food, food, food, food ..._   
  
"Bird!" Kurt was amazed by and amused at the animal's arrogance. He ran up and started savagely biting at the ice cream before Kurt could get it anywhere near his mouth. The bird shook his head, scattering bits of ice cream all over his uniform and the table, but kept taking bites of the ice cream.   
  
  
_He had forgotten the Food was wet, so he shook his head as he ate. Food was so good! He decided to thank the strange flock for the food._   
  
The bird cocked his head and rubbed his beak on his uniform, then whistled at him and tried for the spoon again. "No," he told the bird, firmly. "I may not know much about birds, but I am certain that you should not have ice cream."   


***********************

Gambit sauntered into the mansion after a late night that turned into a late morning. He opened the refrigerator door, finding with relief that no one had taken his patented hangover remedy, strawberry Gatorade.   
  
_He was rested and fed. There was a human. He called to it from his new place._   
  
A loud wolf whistle came behind him, and he nearly dropped the bottle, but caught himself and turned around. He didn't see anyone, but there was a gray bird with a yellow face looking at him from a shiny new cage by the window. "You talk to Remy, bird?"   
  
_The human was making meaningless noises at him. It must be flock. Flock made meaningless noises at him a lot yesterday, when he ate for two hours straight and when he played with his toys. He chirped again._   
  
The bird made an odd beeping noise. It was imitating the microwave. He laughed. "So you like nuked food? Maybe Remy have to teach you 'bout real cooking."   
  
"What makes you think you can, Cajun?"   
  
Without turning around, the lanky man relaxed and said, "The sarcasm, gruffness, the teasin', must be Jean."   
  
A snort. "Figures you're talkin' to yourself over there."   
  
Remy turned and saw Logan leaning against the counter, leather jacket dangling from his hand. "Talkin' to myself?"   
  
_Flock was ignoring him. This was intolerable. He started making louder and more annoying sounds, screeching and whistling, so flock would pay attention to him._   
  
The bird had been making quiet noises under their conversation, but now was increasing pitch and volume, and Remy covered his ears. Logan laughed. "Gotta get in on it, bird? You're more like the Cajun than I thought."   
  
"So what his name?" Remy watched as the animal, pleased by the two men's focus on him, sang to them while standing on one foot, head slightly cocked.   
  
"Well, the girls finally decided to name him after you." Logan gave a smug smile as Remy arched an eyebrow.   
  
"Two Remys? Cher, that be too confusin' for everyone."   
  
"Didn't say they named him Remy. Said they named him after you." Logan deliberately turned his attention to the bird, feeding him a few pieces of cereal through the cage bars. The bird snatched at the bits.   
  
He groaned. "Okay. What his name?"   
  
Logan turned to face him, dropping the last bits of cereal. The bird stayed on the cage bars, whistling imperiously. "Beau." 


	2. Bobby and Beau

Bobby went down to the kitchen. He was on bird duty this morning, so he had to get Beau up and fed before heading off to class. He whistled a little as he walked into the den where Beau spent the night in his cage.   
  
_He heard flock coming. It was the wake-up flock! He chirped a question. Was the flock here to get him up?_   
  
A quiet chirp met his ears and he smiled. "Hi, Beau! Rise and shine!" He took the two towels off the bird's cage. Beau was on the highest perch. His yellow face and orange cheek patches gleamed in the light. He began to sing.   
  
_It was morning, morning, morning! Time to call to flock, to tell other birds that this was his territory, and to eat after a long night. He sang, holding on tight to his perch as his home was moved. This was routine. It soothed him._   
  
"What are you so happy about there, birdie?" 'Breakfast, Bobby.' He had found a fake voice for the bird. He used it to have "conversations" with the animal. It worked for him.   
  
He got the bird's dishes out and began washing them. "You know, you're lucky, bird. Everyone thinks well of you. No one forgets about you." His voice turned bitter. "You're cute and sweet. You have no problems making friends. Do you?" He filled the water dish and put it into Beau's cage.   
  
_Flock was making noises. It was good. He was thirsty. He went down to his dish and took a few sips of water. _  
  
He dried the bird's food dish, still talking. "And of course, female birds would probably think you're handsome. Maybe I just need to change my color scheme. Then someone might think I was worth something."   
  
_He was not empathic. He did not understand humans unless they talked to him in whistles. But somehow, he felt a need to connect with this flock. He gave the flock whistle and asked for Out._   
  
Beau leaped onto the door and wolf-whistled, looking at him pleadingly, then whistled imperiously at him. "Yeah. You think I'm worth something. I'm worth food." He sighed and opened the door. The bird walked out onto it and up his arm, resting on his shoulder as he got the bird's food ready.   
  
"Thing is, bird, everyone else I came in with has had someone. You know? Jean has Scott. Warren had Candy. And Betsy, too...unfair, that was. Hank had Trish, till she turned out to be a psycho hose beast. But no one has loved me. I'd do anything to even have a long-term psycho girlfriend who tried to feed me to a walrus or something!"   
  
_There was food. He went down to grab some, then took it back up to the place near the flock's mouth. He liked this flock._   
  
He sighed. "Oh, well. Gotta keep going, don't I?" 'Stop pitying yourself and put me back!'   
  
He put the food dish back into Beau's cage and held out his hand to the bird. Beau backed away from his hand, running around behind his neck.   
  
_He was staying with the flock. The nasty stick-things were NOT going to stop him.   
_  
He created a minor ice slide on his collar. Beau backed away from it and he got the bird on his hand again, then stuck him in his cage and closed the door, fastening it tight. "Bye, bird. Thanks for listening to my oh so sad story," he said in an awful British accent. "Till next time, when we hear Miss Piggy say, 'Oh, Bobby, kiss me you fool!'"   
  
Kitty slipped into the kitchen as Bobby left, earning a scream from Beau.   
  
_Flock was leaving! Flock might get lost! Don't leave, flock!_


	3. Remy and Beau

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Someone had forgotten to put him to bed, so Beau rested comfortably in the kitchen on his perch, bathed in moonlight. It was quiet, but right now he was awake. He heard a noise and softly hissed.   
  
Remy tried to be quiet as he came in about 4 a.m. after a hard night in town. He entered the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door, spilling light into the quiet room.   
  
_It was flock! He blinked and yawned in the light, waiting for flock to call to him._   
  
He pulled out the milk and started drinking, leaving the door open as he rummaged for something to eat. Peanuts and pretzels weren't enough, especially after hard drinking.   
  
_He decided to use the most exciting sound he knew, the one he had been practicing for a long time. He moved his tongue around, making sure he knew where to put it, then called to flock._   
  
"REMY!" The man nearly had a heart attack, leaping back from the fridge and extending his staff. Scott was here? How the hell did ol' tightass Scott know he was here? He flipped on the lamp by the phone. No one was there.   
  
_The human jumped and flailed around. This was a fun game! He decided to do another flock call and see if he could make the human jump again._  
  
"REH-my!" Rogue was pissed at him now. "Oui, mon ange?" he said tentatively, searching the shadows for her.   
  
_The human twitched again. He was having great fun. Flock was wonderful to play this game with him._   
  
A low growl came from the bird's cage. "Remy!" The bird perfectly imitated a pissed-off Logan. He walked over to the cage. "Why you tryin' to give Remy white hairs?"   
  
_He had flock's attention now. He fluffed up, comfortable. Time for flock to talk to him._   
  
The bird fluffed out and looked up at him sweetly with innocent dark eyes. "Don' give Remy that look, cher. He know what you do." He sighed and swigged some milk. "Damn' bird. Don' suppose you do anyone else?"   
  
_He started beak grinding. He was warm and safe with flock paying attention to him._   
  
The bird started making a loud noise with his beak and half-closed his eyes. Remy shook his head and put the milk away. "Don' know why Logan have to bring you here. Stupid bird." He walked to the door, turning off the light.   
  
_Flock was leaving! Flock should never leave! He called desperately to flock._   
  
"Remy!" This time the overwrought voice of Kitty followed him, and Remy laughed despite himself, heading up the stairs to bed.


	4. Lockheed vs Beau

Lockheed was angry and lonely. Kitty had been neglecting him for this new animal that smelled like food and acted like food. He decided to go have a "talk" with the bird. He tapped across the countertops over to the sink, where Rogue was washing dishes, the bird on her shoulder.

__

Beau saw something moving toward him. It was a scary thing. He hissed and flapped his wings to get Rogue to fly away from the scary thing.

"Beau, settle your feathery butt down. It's okay. It's just Lockheed." She soothed the cockatiel with her words, then turned her gaze on the dragon. "And what do you want?"

Lockheed looked up at the bird-food. He licked his nose with his tongue and stared at Rogue.

"No, you don't. He isn't food. He's a bird and we like him alive." Rogue turned away and grabbed the dish cloth, passing it across the surface of a blue plate before rinsing it under the water.

Lockheed leaped forward and put his head under Rogue's hand. "Eep," he said firmly. If she was going to pay attention to that food, she was going to pay attention to him, too.

__

Beau saw that Rogue's stick-things were touching another thing, petting it. He felt like getting a preening too, so he nipped at her ear to get her attention, then extended his head for a preen.

"Beau!" Rogue yelped as the animal bit her ear and then extended his head, crest lowered. "I only have two hands!"

Lockheed pressed his head into the hand petting him. He was NOT going to be ignored for this food thing.

__

The human didn't give him a preening. Stupid human. He repeated his request.

"OW!" Rogue screamed in pain as Beau took a harder chomp of her ear. "You little monster!"

__

The human made a loud, scary sound at him, so he had to get away fast. He flew to the top of the curtain rod above the window, his feet tangling in the lace of the curtain hanging there, and started flapping his wings frantically in fear.

Lockheed nipped at Rogue as she removed her hand from his head and rinsed her wet hand under the water. He wanted more attention.

"Not now, Lockheed. Birdbrain there got himself into trouble again. Kind of like his namesake," she muttered, flying a few feet into the air to reach the frightened bird.

__

Scary. Get away. Scary. Must get away. Feet trapped. Nibble them. Scared. Get away.

Beau hissed and furiously nipped the lace curtain. He had snagged his nails in the material and was flapping so hard she could not see to free him. She captured him from the back, clamping her fingers down over his wings and using her index finger and thumb to immobilize his head. With her left hand, she pulled the material that was trapping him from Beau's feet.

__

Even more scary. Trapped. Can't move head. Bad, bad stick-things! Bite them!

Beau was squealing and screaming under her hand, wriggling to get free. Rogue sighed. "Damn it, bird, people are gonna think I'm beatin' you up, not helping you out. Stop." She got the final bit of material and released Beau.

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Bad, bad, BAD stick-things! He would teach them a lesson!

Beau immediately and viciously attacked her right hand. Lockheed knew what that meant. Beau was bad, trying to hurt his friend. He flew to the attack.

"Lockheed, NO!" Rogue tried to stop the dragon, but he flew too fast. He barreled into the male cockatiel, which shrieked and hissed, flapping his wings.

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Scary. Bad things. Hurt him. He would hurt them! He screamed defiance at the big thing, then cowered in fear as it hit him. It hurt! He tried to run away.

Lockheed tried to attack Beau as he ran in fear under the refrigerator, but Rogue caught him this time and glared into his face. "If you ever hurt him again, I will track you down and do the same to you. Got it? Leave Beau alone. Never touch him."

Rogue was dominant to Lockheed. Lockheed had to do what Rogue said. He bowed his head in submission to Rogue, though he didn't want to.

__

Hurting some. Very scared. Hide. Darkness was good. Good place to hide. Beau stayed in the darkness.

"Good. Now, get out of here. I'm tellin' Kitty what you did, too." Rogue watched as Lockheed mopily left the room, then knelt down in front of the refrigerator. "Come on out, Beau. It's okay."

__

Human made noises at him. He was scared. He stayed in the dark. Dark was good and safe. No bad things could catch him here.

Rogue tried to get him out for a few minutes, but then gave up and got out her communicator instead. "Bobby?"

"Hey, there, beautiful. Care to dump the creepy Cajun and go for someone who's really cool?" Bobby's teasing voice came through clearly and she rolled her eyes.

"Right. No. Can you come to the kitchen? Beau's scared and I can't get him out from under the fridge to see if he's hurt or not."

"Beau might be hurt? Rogue, how'd that happen?"

She sighed. "Lockheed tried to protect me from him. He got startled and bit me a little. I'm fine, but he got hit by Lockheed, so I need to check him out."

Bobby slid in, closing his communicator and stopping his ice slide several feet before the kitchen table. His entire focus was on the refrigerator. "Heya Beau, old pal, old buddy." Rogue got out of the way as Bobby ducked his head down and made eye contact with Beau, who was hissing and striking at the floor under the appliance.

__

Talky wake-up human was here. Beau liked the talky wake-up human. He whistled the flock greeting at him, then hissed, to warn the human of the scary thing.

A cheery, elaborate wolf-whistle greeted him, followed by an angry hiss. Bobby let out a low whistle himself. "Mixed messages. Just like most women I've dated." He wolf-whistled back to Beau, then held out his hand. "Come on, sweet thing. Let's get you out of there so we can see if Lockheed messed you up or if you can take him."

__

Beau relaxed a little, but remained somewhat alert. The last time he had been out there, scary things happened. He wasn't quite sure what, but it had been scary.

The cockatiel stopped hissing and biting at things, but he didn't come out, either. Bobby sighed. "Also just like the women I've dated. You need something more than just my pretty face to get you out of there, hm?" He thought for a minute, then got up and opened the freezer door. He pulled out a small round container of Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream, grabbed a spoon from the dish drainer, and dropped back onto the floor. "Mm." He made a big production of opening up the ice cream, flourishing his hand, pulling hard at the lid, and putting the lid aside on the floor. The bird watched every move. "Yummy food." He dipped the spoon into the container, bringing out a very small amount of ice cream. "I'm gonna enjoy eating this all by myself."

__

Oo. There was Food. Sweet Food. Beau unconsciously began running his tongue in and out, touching his beak. He loved this Food. He had to have some!

The bird came running out from under the door, eagerly snatching ice cream from the spoon. Bobby let him, then got the bird on his hand and put him back in his cage. He then bowed to Rogue. "The master has done thy bidding, lady."

She clapped her hands and laughed. "Good. Now let's check him out." She tried to grab Beau again.

__

Bad stick-things!

Beau furiously attacked her hand when she tried to grab him again. Bobby, a superior look on his face, handed her one of Beau's towels. "Try using this. It hurts less."

"Thanks, popsicle." She wrapped the bird in the towel, ignoring his scream as she picked him up again. Bobby stepped forward.

"Here. I'll restrain his head and body as you check him out." He took a good grip on Beau's head, while Rogue started looking Beau over.

__

Scary. Can't fly. Can't see. Very, very scary. He got very quiet. So scary. Need to fly. Need to see. Must get away. Scary. Bite. Scary.

She touched his feet. They were gray and scaly, as always. She then checked out his wings. They looked okay, and he didn't protest very much when she touched them. His head was fine, as was his neck. Last of all, she touched his breast bone, and Beau screamed.

__

Pain! Pain! No more pain, please no more pain!

Bobby started talking to the 'tiel once he was released. "Hey, there, brave Beau. You're going to get to go to the vet! Won't that be great?" 

Rogue called the doctor as Bobby anxiously talked to the 'tiel, who was fluffed up and sitting in the highest point of his cage. 

__

Rest. With flock. Will be okay. With.


	5. Vet Visit

__

The human-flock was shouting at each other in the background, but his talky wake-up human was with. Beau felt better with that talky human near him. He got as close to the talky human as he could in his cage and fluffed up, ignoring the bad feeling in his chest.   
  
"But I want to go with Beau!" Kitty was nearly in tears.   
  
"You can't. You have to stay here with Lockheed." Rogue, exasperated, turned to Bobby. "Got him ready to go with us?"  
  
"Of course you're a good bird. I mean, just look at those feathers. I couldn't do that." Bobby was close to the gray fluffball, murmuring nonsense to him.   
  
"Bobby!"   
  
_A loud scary noise entered the kitchen, as well as scary smoke. Beau tried to fly away and hissed viciously, then squeaked in pain.   
_  
"Who let Lockheed hurt Beau?" Kurt looked around menacingly. Bobby was trying to soothe Beau, who was on the floor of his cage hissing, crying out, and flapping his wings hysterically.   
  
Kitty backed away reflexively, and Rogue took a step back, herself. It was not often that Kurt lost his temper, but when he did, he was frightening.   
  
Bobby said in a calm, soothing voice, "Kurt, if you're going to scream at people, could you please take them outside with you? Beau's kinda scared, aren't you, good boy? And we need you calm so you can go to the vet in a few minutes, right?"   
  
_The good talky human was making meaningless noises at him that sounded nice. He decided to tell the good human that he was flock.   
_  
Beau stopped hissing long enough to wolf-whistle at Bobby, bright brown eyes half-lidded, gray foot waving in the air, orange cheek patches standing out from his yellow head. Kurt turned to Beau with concern. "I am going with you. Now." Kurt took the cage gently in his hand and Bobby turned to go.   
  
"Hold on. Who said you got to go? I made the appointment." Rogue crossed her arms.   
  
"You stay here with Kitty. I am going with Beau." Kurt's face reflected his anger and worry, so Rogue threw her hands up into the air.   
  
"Fine. Just make sure you take notes. Everyone's gonna want to know what happened."   
  
"I'll drive. You sit with him." Bobby nearly ran out of the room.   
  
********************   
Lockheed was thoroughly chastened by almost everyone present at the mansion. After an hour, the X-men in general were just sitting around, waiting for news. Finally, Bobby came into the house, carrying Beau in his cage, and was swarmed by people all talking at once.   
  
"Stop." He put Beau in his usual place. Beau looked tired and soon had his head nestled in the feathers of his back, one bright brown eye closing and opening.   
  
"Now. The vet says he just has a bruise. But we're going to have to feed him better." He put a list of foods on the refrigerator. "If you want to help him, try making him some of these treats for every day. He also needs at least a little time alone, so don't everyone crowd around him. He's had a hard day."   
  
_He rested, warm and snug, as the talky human made noises at his flock. He liked these humans. He liked the home he'd found, though sometimes still, in his deepest dreams, he remembered his first home and flock, and wished for them. _


	6. Bedtime for Beau

__

Beau sat quietly on the blue human. It held him on its shoulder in the den, playing with something in its lap. The blue human wouldn't let him play with it. The blue human was selfish. He tried to climb down and play with it again.

Kurt muttered under his breath, the golden words of the King James Version he had been given by Charles last year for Christmas singing through his head. He liked having Beau with him as he read in the evenings before he had to put the bird to bed.

__

The stuff was shiny on the edges. Oh my! He loved playing with shinies. He decided to taste the shiny.

Kurt felt a presence near his right hand. "Beau!" The cockatiel had squirmed down the towel Kurt wore over his shoulder, to keep the bird's leavings off his clothing, and took a small bite out of the page he was reading.

__

Uh-oh. The human had noticed. He put a foot on the toy. He had claimed it! The human should not challenge his claim to the neat toy!

Beau kept chewing on the paper he had bitten, put a foot on the Bible, and hissed at Kurt when he tried to pick the bird up. "Nein, Beau. Up. Now."

__

He did what he always did when he heard the noise the humans made and stood on the stick-thing, though he opened his mouth to hiss in protest.

The bird dropped the paper he had been chewing and hissed at him. "Ja. I know. I am an evil human, stealing away your things." He put the bird back up on his shoulder. What was it that Kitty had explained to them?

Ah, yes. When Beau needed things to chew on, give him things that were good to chew. He bent down to the Beau basket, full of extra food, toys, water, and chewables that all X-men who cared for him carried with them as they saw to the bird's needs. He took out a subscription card to Field and Stream and held it up to Beau's face.

__

A toy! He would take this toy from the evil stick-things. Oh, it felt good in his beak. He wanted to take more of it. He happily began shredding the card, chewing on bits and then dropping them everywhere.

Kurt sighed. The bird had taken a piece of his favorite Bible. It was only a small piece, but he fussed over the book to make sure it was all right otherwise.

__

The stick-things gave up? The card was his! He snatched it and bit it savagely, then it disappeared. He stared at where it had been, questioning. What had happened to the neat toy?

Kurt looked up at Beau as the animal dropped the card he had left on his shoulder for him to peck at. The bird looked confused, darting his beak down and attacking the small white pellets he had made of the pieces he had ripped from the card. He sighed and held the card up to Beau again. "Here. Happy?"

__

The card was back! Oh, it was a neat toy! But the stick-things were back too. He nibbled at them. Get away from Beau's toy. My toy. Mine.

The bird pretended to attack his thick fingers, hissing and hitting them with his beak. "But if I let go, you will not have a toy any more, silly thing." He pulled his fingers back to the edge of the card, then looked at the clock. 8:45. "Time for you to go to sleep, mein freund vogel."

__

The card went away. The human started packing up its things. Oh! It was about time for…time for sleep? No! Not yet!

The bird began singing and whistling, mixing the human sounds he had learned, like wolf-whistles and the squeak of the dining room door, with the loudest bird sounds he knew. "Ja, ja. Time to go to bed."

Kitty poked her head in. "I thought I heard him. Bed time already?" She looked disappointed.

"It is."

__

Maybe the small human would save him from the go to bed human. He started directing his song to her, whistling and bobbing and showing her what a good, handsome bird he was.

Beau extended his neck and started showing the white patches on his wings, singing and flirting with Kitty. Kurt laughed. "What a silly creature you are, Beau."

He put the bird into his cage, then closed the door and took him into the small alcove off the kitchen where the bird slept. He covered the animal, which was still squeaking and singing loudly. "Guten nacht, Herr Beau. Now, quiet."

__

He would not sleep. He was not tired. There was so much more singing and playing and eating and singing to do! He was not tired. He was just quiet in the dark because flock was quiet. He was not tired. He just wanted to rest his head in the feathers of his back for a little because it was comfortable. He closed his eyes. Soon, Beau was asleep, and what dreams he had were his alone, but probably included kindly white, blue, and brown faces giving him what he wanted all along. A family. A flock. Somewhere to call home.


	7. Touching Beau

Rogue walked into the kitchen late for breakfast. Why had she let Remy talk her into staying out till 4 a.m. again?   
  
She smiled ruefully as she pulled the fridge door open. Damned swamp rat was too charming for his own good. "Remy," she said quietly.   
  
"Remy!" Her own voice answered her. She frowned. "Who's there?"   
  
"Remy!" The same voice, the same irritated cry as before. She peered around the door. Beau was still on the counter next to the window in his cage, cocking a beady brown eye at her, his yellow head gleaming in the sun.   
  
_The flock was here and was talking to him. Beau liked this flock, though it also made him nervous, especially when he was Out with it._   
  
"Oh. It's you." She pulled out one of Remy's strawberry Gatorades and swigged it down without a pause. If he caused the hangover, he could spare the cure.   
  
_The flock seemed to be in a good mood. He decided to give the main flock call.   
_  
Beau poked his head toward her and wolf-whistled. She laughed. "I bet you'd break hearts if you had anyone around of your kind. If I was a cockatiel, I'd probably think you were the best ever."   
  
_The flock made noises at him. He watched flock as he moved down to eat. He picked through his seeds and pellets for his favorites, watching the flock as he did so.   
_  
Food didn't sound good this morning, despite the 24 ounces of Gatorade. She sat on a chair near Beau instead and looked through the bars as the gray bird ate. "I wish I could touch you like the others do, Beau. You look so soft."   
  
The bird kept eating, raising his head to look around after every bite. "You can."   
  
She turned to see Bobby in the doorway, watching her. "What do you mean?"   
  
He shrugged. "You can't pick him up, but you can touch him. He's mostly covered with feathers." He walked over and opened the cage door.   
  
_Ooo. One of his favorite flock was here! Beau wiggled with excitement as the favorite came over and opened his door. He ran out and onto the favorite's stick-thing.   
_  
Bobby easily scooped Beau onto his hand. The bird tried to climb up his green shirt to his shoulder, but Bobby took him on his other hand and held him up to Rogue's face. "Kiss his breast."   
  
Rogue looked up at him warily. "Really?"   
  
He sighed. "Kitty does it all the time. He sometimes refuses to get on my hand if I don't do it."   
  
Beau was getting impatient, wiggling and squirming to get away from Rogue and back to Bobby. Rogue hesitantly pressed her lips to a point covered with gray feathers about an inch or two below the bird's head.   
  
_He was touched. It happened. He still wanted his favorite human.   
_  
Beau permitted the touch, then eagerly flew to Bobby and landed on his shoulder. Bobby smiled.   
  
Rogue touched her lips. Beau was soft. He was wonderful. She turned away from Bobby and began walking out of the room.   
  
She finally managed to touch another living thing. It was overwhelming. She rubbed her lips together, trying to recapture the sensation, as she walked back to her room.


	8. Easter Egg Hunt

****

The Great Easter Egg Hunt  
  
_Beau was in a new place today. It was full of flock and some non-flock. It was loud and exciting. He decided to speak up so the flock would know he was there and was excited too._   
  
Everyone had gathered for the annual Xavier Mansion Easter Egg Hunt. People who normally did not live at the mansion but were somehow affiliated with the X-men had started arriving at sunrise. A small prayer service was held in the chapel, attended by a few faithful, but now everyone was together in the living room. The cockatiel was shrieking his head off, screaming over the crowd in his metal cage in the back of the room, his crest up, his body clinging to the door of his cage, occasionally striking the metal bars to make a loud, unpleasant sound.   
  
"Why did you ever get that?" shouted Lorna Summers, trying to get Bobby's attention. "He's more trouble than you ever were."   
  
Bobby bit back a sarcastic reply. "You just answered your own question!" he yelled cheerfully.   
  
_He was being left out. Flock got to come and go out of his cage. He wanted out too! Flock might get lost if he didn't get out and help them find their way back!_   
  
Heads were turning as Beau increased the pitch and tempo of his screams, sounding like a pitifully tortured birdie. He flapped his wings, excited by the attention, and continued banging on the cage door as he shrieked to be let out.   
  
Logan cut through the crowd and extended his claws. Silence fell. "Get the doors closed," he growled as he walked over to the cage.   
  
_Flock that was fun to preen came to his cage. Out? Was he getting out? Beau chirped a soft, rising trill._   
  
The doors to the living room shut as people scrambled out of the short man's way. He retracted his claws once he got to the cage door and couldn't keep the smirk off his face upon hearing Beau's quiet chirps. "Wondering what's goin' on, huh?"   
  
_Oo, he was going to get Out. He was! He clung to the side of the cage and waited for the door to open._   
  
The bird's "question chirps" stopped as Logan opened his door and took the animal out on his hand. The bird immediately started climbing up to his shoulder.   
  
_Got to go to the place next to the flock. That's where he belonged. He climbed the long way up to the flock and gave it a friendly nibble before settling in to preen his feathers._   
  
He growled a little as the bird bit him, then started nibbling its gray chest feathers, yellow head moving furiously through them.   
  
"Good thing I don't believe in biting back," he breathed as the announcement was made that the eggs had been hidden all over the first floor, and that only people with powers that wouldn't help them find the eggs or who were willing to wear power inhibitor collars ("this means you, Jean" could look for them.   
  
The crowd cheered. Beau got scared and flew crazily around the room.   
  
_Loud noise. Scary! Too many people, too much not-flock. Get away! Scared!_   
  
The animal landed behind the couch, his claws scrabbling for an instant on the windowsill above before he fell. He hissed and complained as he landed, almost inaudible over the sounds of people leaving to start the hunt.   
  
Logan sighed. He wasn't going to be part of the hunt for two reasons. He'd helped hide some of the eggs and he wasn't turning his senses off for anyone. That meant he had to retrieve the stupid bird.   
  
_Beau hissed in the dark place. Scary loud noises were all around him from scary not-flock and he hid._   
  
"Come here, you." The protecting couch was pulled out from the wall and a hand reached for Beau.   
  
_Bite it!_   
  
Logan grabbed the bird, despite the painful bite it gave him, and pulled the hissing, biting animal up to his shoulder again, plopping him down there, then heading to the kitchen for a beer.   
  
_Beau slowly came back to himself from the scary place. Flock was there. He was in the Beau place. The scary not-flock was gone. He relaxed and turned to preening his wing again._


End file.
